Contents

Background

The main feud heading into SummerSlam pitted WWF ChampionHulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake against Randy Savage and Zeus. At WrestleMania V in April 1989, Hogan defeated Savage to win his second WWF Championship. WWF financed a professional wrestling movie "No Holds Barred". Hogan starred as the hero Rip, a popular professional wrestler, while Tom Lister played the villain Zeus. In the movie, Hogan defeated Zeus. The rivalry spanned in WWF, because Zeus wanted to take revenge from Hogan in real-lifedue to Hogan breaking Zeus's nose on set. In the WWF, he was also billed as Zeus. He made his first appearance on WWF television on May 27, 1989 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event before Hogan's WWF title defense against Big Boss Man in a steel cage match. He was introduced by Boss Man's manager Slick. During Hogan's entrance, Zeus brutally attacked him. On the July 29 editionof Saturday Night's Main Event, Zeus attacked Brutus Beefcake during Beefcake's match with Hogan's rival Randy Savage. Zeus did this because Beefcake was on the cusp of defeating Randy Savage. Hogan came to the rescue but was unable to drop Zeus because Savage gave him two chair shots in the back. This led to the Hogan & Beefcake vs. Savage & Zeus encounter at SummerSlam.

The main singles match on the card was between Rick Rude versus The Ultimate Warrior for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. They had a "Super Posedown" at Royal Rumble in January 1989 which was won by Warrior, prompting Rude to angrily attack him with a steel workout bar. This led to their title match at WrestleMania V, where Warrior lost the Intercontinental Championship to Rude. They were signed to a rematch for the title at SummerSlam, with Rude defending the title against Warrior.

Event

The first match of the pay-per-view was between the Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard), accompanied to the ring by Bobby Heenan, and The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart). In the middle of the match, Anderson tried to interfere, causing all four men to fight in the ring. Meanwhile, Heenan had the referee distracted, which allowed Anderson to perform a double ax handle, dropping his elbow onto the back of Hart's neck. Anderson then pinned Hart. The referee noticed the pin and began the count, as Anderson covered Hart's face, so it would not be discovered that Hart was not the legal team member in the match.

The second match of the evening was between Dusty Rhodes and The Honky Tonk Man, who was managed by Jimmy Hart. Rhodes had the advantage until Hart distracted him. This allowed The Honky Tonk Man to grab Hart's megaphone and ram it into Rhodes' midsection. The Honky Tonk Man continued in the offensive position until Rhodes' was able to get back on his feet. The Honky Tonk Man, however, shoved Rhodes into the referee, knocking him out. This allowed The Honky Tonk Man to hold Rhodes while Hart attempted to hit Rhodes with The Honky Tonk Man's guitar. Rhodes, however, moved out of the way, and Hart hit The Honky Tonk Man instead. Rhodes then performed his finishing move, the Bionic Elbow, and pinned him for the win.

The third match, which pitted Mr. Perfect against The Red Rooster, began with a shoving match in the center of the ring. Mr. Perfect performed several offensive maneuvers on The Red Rooster, even preventing Rooster from reversing a slam to the mat. Mr. Perfect ended the match by performing a dropkick and the Perfect Plex and then pinning him for the win.

In the subsequent match-up, Rick Martel and The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) faced Tito Santana and The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty). In the first moments of the match, Santana and The Rockers cleared all the opposing team members from the ring. Jannetty was the legal man for his team and faced all three opponents as they tagged each other into the match. Martel and the Rougeaus kept Jannetty isolated in their corner by utilizing illegal double team moves. After some time, Santana tagged Michaels into the match, who quickly regained the advantage. Near the end of the match, Jimmy Hart, who had accompanied The Rougeaus and Martel to the ring, distracted Jannetty, who was hit from behind by Jacques. As a result, Martel was able to pin Jannetty, even though Michaels never tagged out of the match and was still the legal man.

The next match was a WWF Intercontinental Championship match between The Ultimate Warrior and the defending champion Rick Rude, who was accompanied to the ring by Bobby Heenan. The Warrior gained the early advantage in the beginning of the contest by press slamming Rude from the ring onto the arena's floor. He continued to have the advantage until Rude was able to thwart an offensive maneuver by pushing The Warrior from the top rope onto the turnbuckle. The two wrestlers swapped the offensive position until "Rowdy" Roddy Piper came down to ringside to distract Rude. This allowed The Warrior to perform a German suplex, press slam, and a Warrior Splash from the top rope. The Warrior then pinned Rude to become the new Intercontinental Champion.

Hercules defeated Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) by disqualification. Valentine pinned Hercules with his feet on the ropes. Guest ring announcer Ronnie Garvin (who was feuding with Valentine at the time) announced Hercules as the winner of the bout by disqualification.

In the main event, WWF ChampionHulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake faced Randy Savage and Zeus. In the beginning, Beefcake and Savage brawled on the floor and Zeus no-sold Hogan. Beefcake came out and made the save but was caught by Zeus in a bearhug. Hogan tried to save his partner but he also became victim of a bearhug by Zeus. Savage came off the top rope and hit Hogan with a diving double axe handle. He hit Hogan another double axe handle from the top rope and a running knee for a near-fall. Savage applied a chinlock on Hogan but Hogan hit Savage with shoulder blocks. He came off the ropes where Zeus assaulted him. Zeus got a tag and then he beat on Hogan and locked in a bearhug where he took Hogan to the mat for several near-falls. Zeus took him in their corner and then tagged Savage. Savage connected with a neckbreaker on Hogan and spitted on Beefcake, forcing him to get into the ring. Savage hit a belly to belly suplex on Hogan for a near-fall. Hogan tagged in Beefcake who hit Savage with a high knee for a near-fall. He locked in a Barber's Chair on Savage, who fell to the knees but then got up and drove Beefcake's head in the corner. Zeus tagged in and was very angry. Beefcake hit him with an eye rake and applied a Barber's Chair on Zeus. Savage took his managerSensational Sherri's loaded purse and hit Beefcake in the back with it. Savage got a tag, calmed down Zeus and got a near-fall on Beefcake which ended after Hogan made the save. Savage went for another cover and Hogan came in again and chased Savage, who hid behind Hogan's manager Miss Elizabeth and was beaten up by Hogan. Zeus came in and locked a chokehold on Beefcake before tagging Savage. Savage and Beefcake knocked out each other. Beefcake tagged Hogan. Hogan connected with a corner clothesline on Savage and then assaulted Zeus. He hit a big boot on Savage, sending him to the floor. Hogan tried to suplex Savage in the ring from the apron but Sherri tripped him as Savage fell on Hogan for a near-fall. He clotheslined Hogan and he hit a Savage Elbow from the top rope but like WrestleMania V, Hogan no-sold it. He beat on Savage and sent him to the floor after an atomic drop. Zeus tagged in. He beat Zeus with clotheslines. Zeus fell on one knee. Elizabeth tripped Sherri and Beefcake tossed Savage on the mat. The referee was distracted. Hogan took advantage and hit Zeus with Sherri's loaded purse, followed by a scoop slam and a leg drop for the victory.